I've been told by the more logically minded students in our club that its "useless in a fight" is this true? I can see how it may take time to build power in the kick but I can also see how certain targets could be hit very well.

Just wondering what you guys think. I've only been training the 1st stripe curriculum (spelling!) for a short time but when shown this kick i fell in love with it!

a lot of kicks may seem useless; however it may be good to know how to do them, they could be used. Where you can kick with the heel you can kick with the side cut...so if you get the side of the knee...a side cut might be good in there.
I like that kick but my ankles and hips are not flexible enough so that I can do a good one

You need to practice the kicks on a punching bag. Learn how to get the power out. Make the punching bag fold in half from the impact of your kick. At that point, I say you'll do some damage to your opponent with that kick. Also if your leg is properly aligned with your hips and body, then it'll seem effortless to execute power. Kick the bag alot and find how to do damage with your kick.

Same practice should be done with punches and hand strikes. Hit/kick the bag as frequently as you can.

Hitting solid objects to hit is very important. Having other people trying to hit you is also very important : )

The first time I ever took techniques out of a form and practiced them against a bag. . .well let's just say it wasn't pretty. And if we aren't able to use any techniques in the forms, what good are they? Lian bu quan has been very kind to me in friendly inter-style sparring matches : )

My old Wing Chun Sifu didn’t like the side cut kick, he used to spar a lot with guys who trained in Kuk Sool Won, who use the side cut kick a lot and he told me that they were constantly damaging their ankles. He always used to recommend kicking with your heel. My Sifu trained in Tae Kwon Do before taking up Wing Chun Kuen and was a superb kicker. Jo

Walter Wong wrote:You need to practice the kicks on a punching bag. Learn how to get the power out. Make the punching bag fold in half from the impact of your kick. At that point, I say you'll do some damage to your opponent with that kick. Also if your leg is properly aligned with your hips and body, then it'll seem effortless to execute power. Kick the bag alot and find how to do damage with your kick.

I'll see if i can build up the endurance level of my ankles. Either way i'll train it to death over the next while! It's just such a nice kick! hehe... i think i'm obsessed...

i would actually recommend NOT training it to death. with any strike or kick that has a high potential of damaging your body (finger strikes, knuckle strike, mantis wrist strikes, side-cut kick, toe kick), i would definitely take it easy and allow your body to adapt. do it very low power, for not too long a time at first. this will help prevent damage and give your body time to condition. slowly work your way up to more power and frequency. don't rush it, or you could easily permanently damage your ankles.

Build up to it like scramasax said. Train alot, but train in moderation. Listen to how your body feels. There's a difference in taking it easy if your body's & mind's fatigued or burnt out from training and a difference from taking it easy cause of feeling lazy. Feeling lazy's not an excuse to take it easy. Feeling fatigued in mind/body & or burnt out from training is ok to take it easy or take a break. Your body needs time to heal from the abuse your body goes through from training.